The Saskatchewan government will place a 50 per cent levy on U.S. alcohol, but Premier Scott Moe says the province will not support counter-tariffs on potash and oil.
Speaking with reporters Wednesday in Prince Albert, Moe said his province’s top two exports – potash and oil – should not be subject to any retaliatory levies. His announcement comes a day after the federal government announced the more than 700 goods that will be subject to counter-tariffs.
“What we as a province cannot, and will not, support is any kind of export tariff on our natural resources or any of our resources that are being exported to the U.S. or through the U.S.,” he stated.
The premier said imposing tariffs on potash risks Canadian job losses, and that farmers on both sides of the border would suffer. The U.S., he said, would likely turn to other nations, such as Belarus, for the resource.
“We would lose a long-term customer to some degree,” Moe said.
Oil tariffs are also a non-starter for Saskatchewan’s premier.
“It would be an unsustainable hit to our Canadian economy and, in particular, our Saskatchewan and Alberta economies. Canadians would lose jobs immediately,” Moe continued.
Petrol and diesel products from western Canada are shipped eastward and refined in the U.S., he noted, adding that it would likely increase gas prices in the east.
The premier reiterated his support for the federal plan amid “a challenge from policy direction coming from the White House.”
He called on Canadian and U.S. negotiators “to return to the table” with hopes of coming to “a trade agreement that is good for the entirety of North America” soon.
Moe said he believes the federal government has been negotiating fairly on behalf of the provinces in its Team Canada approach. The counter-tariffs will cover 11.3 per cent, or $1.5 billion, of Saskatchewan’s annual imports from the U.S. The effects of those tariffs will vary nationwide, according to the premier.
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“I want to be clear. As a government of Saskatchewan, we are supportive of these very targeted countermeasures that are in place, but only when those tariffs are focused and targeted to have a minimal impact on Canadian industries and families,” Moe said.
The province is planning to host industry roundtables with effected stakeholders to work closely alongside them, helping them manage any impacts, he added.
Ottawa has not suggested tariffing potash or oil at this point in the trade war, but Ontario Premier Doug Ford said it should.
“(Potash) is one of the most powerful tools we have, along with other tools, and everyone in the world wants our potash,” Ontario’s premier said at a news conference Wednesday. “If we ever cut off potash, their (the United States’) agriculture sector would be dead overnight.”
The Saskatchewan Party government’s comments on potash and oil tariffs were unnecessary and may have foreshadowed a future move in the trade war, provincial NDP trade and export development critic Kim Breckner told reporters at a news conference after Premier Scott Moe’s news conference Wednesday.
“Nobody’s saying that’s where we need to go today or even in the future, but it benefits nobody to stand up and publicly decry what we will and will not do,” she said, adding that “he’s taken the bullets out of the gun.”
U.S. alcohol to face new tax in Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan will also reciprocate the United States-imposed 50 per cent tariff on U.S. alcohol coming into the province, Moe announced Wednesday. The new levy will come into effect on Sept. 8.
Saskatchewan’s move leaves Alberta as the lone province allowing duty-free U.S. liquor on store shelves. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said her government has been focused on diplomacy with the United States since trade talks collapsed late last week.
“It’ll be good for our Saskatchewan producers with domestic and local sales, but we would also say that, at the very core of this government’s belief is that people have the power to choose, and we encourage them to do so.”
The Opposition NDP said Moe’s plan to tariff U.S. alcohol coming into Saskatchewan will burden taxpayers with products that, it says, nobody is drinking.
“It should be off the shelves, period,” Breckner said.
“I don’t understand why he’s not doing it and getting on board with what every other premier, except the one facilitating a separatist vote, is doing.”
By removing U.S. alcohol from its shelves, she said Saskatchewan would gain a bargaining chip as the trade war continues.
The sale of Saskatchewan and Canadian-made alcoholic products continues to increase in Saskatchewan’s liquor stores. Purchases of U.S. booze declined by 40 per cent in the 2025-2026 fiscal year, according to the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority.
— With files from The Canadian Press.
I watched Moe’s television address, it was certainly not a nation builder of a statement.
Amazes me how tough some premiers are…HIT THEM HARD they say.!!
BC-Just not our coal.
Saskatchewan-Just not our potash
Manitoba-We offer nothing
Ontario-Just not our auto sector
Quebec-Just not our dairy
Maritimes-Just not our seafood.
Tired canuck,
Finally a voice of reason and someone who gets it.
@Tired Canuck Trump doesn’t own Venezuela oil, nor will the Americans be able to easily take it. Also, it is completely illegal to steal their oil and not only that, the country have real issues with violent crimes, strikes, and coup that made Venezuelan oil inaccessible. It will cost billions of dollars to bring the crude oil to the States for refinery. Tariffs on oil and potash should be considered but as a last resort, if Trump doesn’t back off. Premier Moe is an idiot. Canada is number one producer of potash of 16 million. Belarus produces 3 million. If he is going to compare, he should do his research. It costs a lot of money for transportation, and it is cheaper and easier to get potash from your former close ally. American farmers should be afraid if tariffs were to be added to Canadian potash. It would drive the cost of food, when the everything is already expensive due to the Iranian War. The Americans should thank Trump for the soaring costs. Hopefully, the Americans vote on the midterms in November.
@Tired Canuck.
Ya,you’re hitting a lot of truth there.Canada can not stand toe to toe with the States. We don’t have the weight to do any significant damage other than to ourselves. It’s a reality many refuse to see.
People just need to calm down, and quickly. Trump has wound many Canadians up in knots and it seems to have worked as many are completely devoid of logic and approach these issues with emotion rather than critical thought.
Bothe Premiers Smith and Scott are standing firm on not using the province’s natural resources as bargaining collateral.
Let’s put it this way – we restrict flows, the US retaliates and shut down Line 5. Ontario and QC would strugglemto have a consistent fuel supply of diesel and gasoline for a very, very long time. Sheesh, if we only had a pipeline to the east, wouldn’t that be a novel idea.
Cut off the oil? Sure. Guess what? Trump basically owns the Venezuela oil at this point and Venezuela has the largest reserves of heavy oil.innyhe world. That’s nearly a 1 day oil tanker trip from Venezuela to the Gulf coast which could simply reverse the lines and ship the heavy crude to the refineries in the Midwest. US’s problem solved, Canada’s is irreparable as we cannot ship 4Mbbl/d via coastal terminals, guess why.
So people need to calm down and use their grey matter rather that acting like their whipped up by a school yard fight at the bike racks.
Moe stands with trump apparently
soft
We need to be unified in the face of Trumpism, but no, we’re already crumbling because certain premiers are afraid to fight. Come on Moe…
“Petrol and diesel products from western Canada are shipped eastward and refined in the U.S., he noted, adding that it would likely increase gas prices in the east.”
Yeah, but Ford and the other eastern liberals can’t wrap their little heads around this fact.